Rabbits, Hynoptics, and Fare - Oh my!
by DragonLass
Summary: Another sugar-coated creation by DragonLass! Sappy, sugary, waffy, what other words can I use? 100% pure S+S!


Rabbits Hynoptics and Fare

Rabbits, Hypnotics, and Fare: Oh my!

By DragonLass

A little something I thought up while I was having a visit at the Alameda fair last month. It's separate from the Auction Ahoy series, but follows along the same kind of lines: I based these stories on personal experience. Sugar alert, this fic is so sweet it might cause cavities...like I said, I'm a sap for romances, hehe, S+S all the way! 

__________________________________________________________________

The summer hadn't even started yet, and already Syaoran knew what his plans for the summer were: an all expense paid trip to the Doldrums. It was like this every summer, including the ones in Hong Kong. Why did he even bother to wait through it? Each summer, his hopes would rise, only to be smashed again as another summer went by without event. This year, maybe he should try something a little different. Maybe he'd sign up for an after school activity, like soccer or swimming...or...

" Or maybe you should go to the fair."

Syaoran looked up at the person addressing him and found himself caught up in the stern gaze of his cousin Mei-Ling, and her new best friend, Tomoyo. Once, those two had been complete enemies, but now they were steadfast friends, practically inseparable. Mei-Ling used to chase Syaoran, but after seeing it was a completely hopeless relationship, she took a vow to help Syaoran find the girl that would make him forever happy. And it looked like this was another scheme of hers.

" The fair? What fair?"   
" Oh, Syaoran!" Mei-Ling sighed in exasperation," How could you not know?"   
" ..."   
" Syaoran, the county fair is in town, and everyone's talking about it."   
" Oh, really."   
" We're going as a small group, and we're hoping you would join us." Tomoyo said hopefully.   
" Nah..."   
" Tomoyo, let me handle this. When it come to Syaoran, I know how to sway him." Mei-Ling said.

Tomoyo stepped aside, allowing Mei-Ling to step up and grab Syaoran by the shoulders.

" Listen here, Li Syaoran," Meilin said firmly," if you don't show up, you'll make me and a certain other person sad. And if we're sad, you can bet Tomoyo won't be a very happy person. And when she's not happy, things happen..."

Syaoran gulped. Tomoyo was giving one of those innocent " Just try it" looks, that said plainly her disappointment would lead to some seriously scary things.

" All right, you've made your point, I'll go."

Mei-Ling and Tomoyo exchanged glances of triumph. Tomoyo suddenly piped up.

" We'll rendez-vous at your house, Mei-Ling. Syaoran."   
" What!" Syaoran started to protest," Oh, no.."   
" Either that or Sakura's house..." Mei-Ling interrupted.   
" On, second thought, my house is fine. How are we going to get there?"   
" Don't worry. That's all taken care of."   
" Uh oh." Syaoran shook his head," I don't like the sound of that."

______   


After a satisfying lunch, Syaoran looked out the door of his quaint home he shared with Mei-Ling, only to have his jaw nearly dent the floor as it dropped. A limo was pulling up onto his driveway! Syaoran's mouth was still open when the door flew ajar with and ecstatic Tomoyo grinning at him.

" Hey, if we want to go to the fair, we might as well go in style..." Tomoyo laughed, as Mei-Ling joined her. She'd read his thoughts perfectly.

Syaoran looked out, and saw Rika chatting with Chiharu and Yamazaki. But, where was Sakura?

" Where's Sakura?"   
" Sakura? Oh, she's not coming." Mei-Ling said as she checked her purse.   
" What?! But, you said, that if I didn't go..."   
" You'd make me and a certain other person sad. Tomoyo. Duh! Who'd you think I was talking about?"

Syaoran was opening and closing his mouth like a fish, when suddenly Tomoyo burst out laughing.

" Oh, quit it! She's in the limo already, honestly, it looked like you were about to pass out! Can't you take a joke?"

Syaoran frowned. He was ushered outside, and before he could protest, shoved into the back thigh to thigh with Sakura. Mei-Ling sat on his right, ever aware of his insistent pushing away from Sakura. Mei-Ling only answered by pushing Syaoran closer. Sakura's face was red, and she did her best to ignore the fact that Syaoran's leg was rubbing up to hers. She could feel the warmth of his skin through his pant leg, and it was a little disconcerting.   
Rika, Chelsea, Yamazaki, and a bodyguard sat in the seats facing theirs, and Tomoyo was up front. They were all aware of Tomoyo's plan at matchmaking, but ignored it - playing along. This was Tomoyo's doing, and if something went wrong, they wanted nothing to do with it.

______   


" We're here!"

Everyone's eyes went wide as they looked out. In the distance, they could just make out the ferris wheel and over there...

" All right, everyone. This is how it goes. For the first hour or so we'll group, but after that we'll split into smaller groups and do separate things, k? Last we'll meet at the center pavilion for the final show."   
" Yeah!"   
" Okay. First stop, tickets!"

Sakura's face fell.

" Tickets, I didn't know we had to buy tickets!"   
" Don't worry, its my treat."   
" What? But, look at these prices!" Sakura motioned to the little handpainted sign.   
" Hey, I'm rich remember? Relax!"

Sakura calmed down a little. They walked from the ticket booth towards the metal detectors.

" Don't want some nutcase trying to ruin everyone's good time."

Each went through, with Yamazaki babbling about metal detectors used by pickpockets.

" Where should we go first?" Tomoyo exclaimed.

There were so many things. What to do...what to do...

" Oh, look, how cute! Swans!" Sakura cried.   
" Let's go see!"

Sakura rushed over to an area thick with the odor of fowl. In a large pen with a beautiful little pond, were two swans one white, the other black. The black one let out a low rumbling honk, countered by the shrill answer of the white.

" Oh, look! They're hugging!"

Syaoran watched as they twined necks. It was as if they saw no one, but each other. His daydreams were interrupted by Mei-Ling.

" Syaoran, look, geese!"

Mei-Ling knew it was a mistake the minute she'd said it. She cursed as Syaoran's bubble was burst and looked at Tomoyo helplessly.

" Don't worry. We can fix it later. Doesn't matter, as long as its not in the middle of my video. For now, look for another opportunity." She whispered reassuringly.

Sakura was kneeling next to a cage with green netting around it. Inside a splendid adult male peacock rested in the hay bed provided. Nearby, the peahen rested as well, the heat of the afternoon wearing them out. As she watched, the most splendid thing happened: the peacock slowly rose up, and in a breath-taking display of colors fanned its silver green plumage, with the yellow eyespots at the tips. Each pigment stood out brightly against the green of the netting, and Sakura was taken by surprise. There were oohs and aahs from her friends.

" They say," Yamazaki entered," that if a peacock fans its tail for you, it means your true love is nearby."

Sakura wondered if that was true, and looked up. Syaoran stood beside her, and she felt a flush.

" Ooh!" Mei-Ling squealed.   
" What?"   
" Chicks!"

Mei-Ling poked a finger into the cage, petting one of the chicks fleetingly before mother hen came to complain.

" Look!" Rika cried," Rabbits!"

All the girls in turn rushed to admire the two snow white bunnies in their pen when Chiharu gasped.

" There's more!"

Indeed, an entire half of one of the buildings had been devoted to rabbit hutches containing every color and texture possible: white, brown, gray, black, calico, siamese pattern, short fur, long fur, curly fur...   
The other side was dominated by chickens. Eriol walked up to one cage, and stroked some of the soft feathers sticking out.

The air inside the building was stale, but they didn't care. So many cute furry, feathery friends! A man who was in charge of this area, went around spraying the animals lightly with a spray bottle to relieve them of the afternoon heat. Chiharu giggled as one of the rabbits she watched opened its mouth in a huge lazy yawn.

" There's still more to see!" Prompted Tomoyo," Come on!"

They exited a different way out, and looked around. A great deal of construction and farm vehicles were parked outside: bulldozers and tractors mainly. At the far right, four pumps were hooked up to a hose which in turn was connected to a basin. When you pushed the handle of each pump either back/forth or up/down, water shot up in a huge stream and drenched everyone within two feet.   
Sakura tried to push one, but found it a lot harder then it looked. She tried again, only this time a pair of hands were helping her as well. Syaoran stood behind her smiling.

" Ready?"

She nodded, and together their pump sent up a geyser that dwarfed all others. It came back down with a mighty splash, right on top of Sakura and Syaoran. Both gasped as the frigid water streaked down their clothes. Before anyone could say anything, Chiharu and Rika burst out laughing, Sakura following suit, and soon all of them were soaking wet and giggling. After they were sufficiently soaked, they walkef for awhile, looking for things to do. There were several booths with interesting things in them, and at one, Chiharu stopped to get her face painted.

" Oh, look! There's a barn!"

It been only about 15 minutes since the water episode, and they were already dry. The gang hurried towards a tall red building with 3 sides open for displaying. In the center of the wall closest to them, hung a huge sign that read " Junior Livestock". The air was musky, and they carefully navigated the pens. On one side were the goats - lithe and most of them nannies. The sheep were next, all of whom had been sheared. This must have been a tremendous relief for them, because the heat was almost unbearably stuffy. They still had a soft woolen fuzz on them, that Tomoyo sighed about as she pet one close to her.

" Piggies come next."

A large pen with a sow was the main attraction as she had seven little piglets about. Some suckled to quench their thirst, others play fought one another, while still another was trapped beneath the rear of his sibling. A crowd had gathered, amused at their antics.

" Chiharu! Tomoyo! Come look at these bulls!"

Big black angus steers lazily swished flies, while cows were nearby chewing their cud.

" Do you remember if cows had 3 stomachs or 4?" Yamazaki murmurred.   
" Actually, son, they have 1 stomach, but its separated into 4 compartments."

Yamazaki eagerly engaged the cattle rancher in some bovine trivia, as he leaned against the railing. Tomoyo took this time to glance at her watch.

" Oh," She looked up," All right, you guys! We're going to split up now! Mei-Ling, Sakura, Syaoran, and I will be going to the pig races."   
" That's fine. Yamazaki, Rika, Eriol and I will be doing a little more sightseeing."

______   


" Oh, wow!" Sakura bent over to admire the beautiful maroon colored horse figurine that sat on a little table in a booth near the race track.   
" Can I help you, missy?" A friendly old gentleman looked expectantly at her.   
" Oh, no! I'm just looking..."   
" Well, I never said anything against browsing..." The man laughed.   
" What are these made of?"   
" Those are made of retsyn." He smiled." Now, I bet your next question is going to be what's retsyn?"

Sakura nodded.

" Retsyn is a material almost like plastic. But, because its real thin in consistency, you can get really nice detail when poured into a mold."

Sakura nodded again as Syaoran ran up.

" Sakura, Tomoyo wants to watch the pig races, and they're starting. Come on!"

She smiled.

" All right."

As Sakura walked, she noticed everything was getting sort of bright. Her head felt extremely light, and it took all her strength not to just collapse right there in the hot sun. As she made her way to the bench, she sat down looking at the dirt. Suddenly something was placed in her hands. Mei-Ling smiled.

" Here!"

It was an Icee; cherry flavored. Sakura accepted it thankfully, and sipped it like heavenly ambrosia. The delicious flavor evaporated in her mouth, cooling her down.

" Oh, look! The show's starting!

Syaoran awkwardly offered some cotton candy to Sakura, who rewarded him with a smile for his generosity.

______   


Eriol looked around at all the lovely flora in the arboretum. It was quiet, broken only by the sound of water trickling from small fountains scattered here and there.

" Oh look! A model train show!"   
" Sounds interesting let's go, Chiharu!"

They walked into the dark doorway, and as they drew closer saw a sight that amazed them. Inside a large work area, behind a protective glass barrier, a huge model of a town had been built with a running train. Little people were everywhere, and Eriol smirked as he looked under one of the little bridges.

" There's a polar bear here, and a hippo."   
" That's nothing, there's a little man in a rubber doughnut being attacked by a tiny shark."   
" There's a plastic dinosaur under this one!"

After they had a good short laugh, the quartet exited the train building, and were for once stumped as to what they should do next. Chiharu got a pretty good idea.

" Why, don't we go on a ride?"   
" We need some coupons."   
" There's the booth over there!"

The four of them examined the price listings.

" Let's see $45 for 80?"   
" How about $15 for 45?"   
" That sounds like a better deal."

______   


" That was the funniest show I've ever seen in a long time. The way they got that one pig to cheat and try to duck under the railing instead of going around..." Tomoyo laughed.

Syaoran smiled appreciatively.

" What should we do now?"   
" Well, we could always meet up with the rest of the gang at the central plaza."   
" Sounds good, let's go."

Along the way, Tomoyo stopped back at the face painting rack. She stared long and hard at the sample for a while, then whispered something to one of the people. They looked at her in surprise, before smiling and offering her the chair. Tomoyo held up her finger, 'one moment', and ran off. Coming back, Tomoyo dragged a protesting Sakura over to the paint stand and began to pretty up her cheek. After nearly 10 minutes, Mei-Ling and Syaoran came looking, and gasped. Along Sakura's upper brow and cheek, Tomoyo had painted a series of delicate cherry blossoms. After paying the booth owners a substantial amount of cash, they left and continued to stroll towards the central plaza.

______   


" Hey, Chiharu! How's it going?" Sakura waved.   
" Great! We just went on all these rides, and there's still some tickets left. Wow, who did that?"   
" Tomoyo."   
" Wow." Chiharu echoed, as Tomoyo looked on proudly. Chiharu shook her head," You've really outdone yourself."   
" Shall we walk?"

Mei-Ling and Rika chattered happily about what they saw, as Chiharu added her two-piece every now and then. Suddenly, a loud booming voice came out of nowhere. All of them were extremely surprised to find themselves in the central plaza so soon.

" Welcome to the Hypnotist's Show!"   
" This should be interesting, let's sit down a bit."

The hypnotist was a middle aged man with brown hair, and a receding hair line.

" Now, I'm going to pick a bunch of people from the audience and use them as my subjects."

A lot of folks raised their hands.

" How about the young man over there?"

Syaoran was surprised. He wasn't the type to believe in this kind of thing.

" And the lady besides you."

Mei-Ling squealed in excitement. She'd been chosen! Her joy changed to sympathy as she saw the sad look on Sakura's face. She'd try to make it up later...maybe she could change places. But, the look Tomoyo gave her told her plainly to go up there without guilt. This should be very interesting. Six more people including two more women another man, and a small boy came up. They sat as followed: The man, the two women, the boy, Mei-Ling, and Syaoran.   
The show went quite well. The man was convinced that he was Tom Cruise, standing up at the sound of applause with his hands raised in the air. Syaoran was believed to have glued his shoes to the floor, and the only way to raise his feet was to whistle and say Scooby-doo alternatingly. Mei-Ling came next, hypnotized to the effect that the small stuffed bear she held seemed to always have had accidents in her lap. The two women came next, convinced that whenever the hypnotist turned his back to them, they would find to their horror that he was nude. One of them cringed, while the other simply raised an eyebrow, as if not sure she believed what she saw.   
Sakura was smiling, as was Eriol, and Tomoyo; Rika and Chiharu were laughing hysterically. After 20 minutes of fun-filled humor, the hypnotists put all his helpers to sleep then addressed the crowd.

" Our show is almost finished, and my guest have been wonderful. I am taking away all suggestions, except for the following: I'm going to leave each of them with a parting gift."

The man walked to each in turn, and pointing to them, asked whether they had any friends or relations in the audience. When it came to Mei-Ling's turn, Chiharu and Rika raised their hands.

" All right. The secret word is 'blue light'. Whenever I say the word blue light, she will stand up and in her loudest voice proclaim " Attention K-Mart shoppers! There is a special in the...and name her favorite department."

Chiharu and Rika smiled.   
  
" Any relations to this boy here?"

Tomoyo and Eriol raised their hands, Sakura also.

" Does he have a girlfriend?"

Five hands immediately pointed to Sakura, who blushed avidly.

" All right. His secret word is 'romance'. Whenever I say the word romance, he will, despite whatever crowd or company, lean over and give his girlfriend the most passionate kiss he could ever bestow on anyone."

Sakura gasped in astonishment, and Tomoyo squealed in excitement. Eriol couldn't help, but grin at poor stuttering Sakura, red-faced.

All contestants were returned to their seats, with the warning that no one was to talk to them until the end of the show.

" All right, let's have a little fun! Blue light!"

" Attention, K-Mart shoppers. There is a blue light special in the shoe aisle!"

Mei-Ling blinked as if in confusion. Chiharu sniggered. The hypnotist smiled.

" Now, comes the best part. Romance."

Syaoran suddenly reached for Sakura's chin. His strong fingers caressed her cheek. Slowly, he lowered his head to hers, pressing close. His free hand went up to support the back of her head, his body covering hers partially. She blushed as his tongue flicked across her lips. Tomoyo and Mei-Ling squealed, the latter holding up her video camera to catch this thrilling moment. Sakura sighed as Syaoran let her go, a hand around her waist now. Suddenly, she frowned as she saw the dreamy smile on his face, almost as if he were sleeping.

______   


" It's almost time to go. Let's go on one more ride! The ferris wheel!"

Tomoyo and Eriol in one seat. Mei-Ling and Rika in another, Chiharu and Yamazaki and last Sakura and Syaoran. As they sat, Sakura was quiet. Syaoran put a hand on her shoulder.

" Sakura what's wrong?"   
" It didn't mean anything, did it?"   
" What?"   
" You don't remember then? Of course...you were hypnotized."   
" Sakura, are you upset about the kiss?"   
" ...It just...didn't seem special."   
" I'm sorry. I wouldn't have done if I'd known it would upset you."   
" What do you mean? I should be blaming the hypnotist..."   
" That old fraud?" Syaoran snorted," Mei-Ling and I were just playing along..."   
" You mean?"   
" Do you need me to prove my sincerity? I'd be happy to..."

Sakura smiled as she wrapped her arms around his neck. He'd done it for her. Despite the crowd, he'd gone ahead and done it. She rested her head against his shoulder as the chair swung lazily at the top of the Ferris wheel. Syaoran wrapped an arm around her shoulders and kissed one of the cherry blossoms on her forehead.

" I love you, Sakura."   
" I love you too, Syaoran."

Despite the heat, she snuggled into the crook of his arm, as he chuckled softly.

" What?"   
" I didn't need a hypnotist to tell me you completely hypnotized me..."

Sakura smiled, and kissed him on the nose, as far as she could reach without shaking their seat dangerously.

" Mm, maybe I should get a booth in here, since I seem to be doing so well."   
" Nuh uh. Your mine." Syaoran flashed a good-humored smile down at her as he nuzzled her hair softly.   
" Selfish now are we?" She teased.   
" As a dragon guards its treasure." Syaoran retorted softly.

Sakura giggled softly as Syaoran growled at her. It was cute to see him acting so relaxed. She purred softly back, and he leaned in to kiss her neck. She sighed, as he butterfly kissed up her nape, wistfully aware of his intoxicating scent. Autumn leaves, warm, and yet fresh. She'd trade gold for this any day. Finally, annoyed a little by his teasing, she twisted around and caught his lips in hers, feeling her passion slowly satiated. He didn't complain.

Maybe his summer wouldn't be so bad after all... 


End file.
